In My Mailbox (58)

For Review

(Thank You Random House and Delacorte Press)

Being Sloane Jacobs By Lauren Morrill

Burning By Elana K. Arnold

For Review 

Netgalley

The Chapel Wars By Lindsey Leavitt

(Thank You Bloombury USA)

One Tiny Lie By K.A. Tucker

(Atria Books)

Hexed by Michelle Krys

(Random House-Delacorte Press)

A June Bride By Marybeth Whalen

The Here and Now By Ann Brasheres

(Thank You Random House-Delacorte Press)

Ballerina by Edward Stewart

(Thank You Open Road Media)

Second Star By Alyssa B. Sheinmal

(Thank You Macmillian)

Won

Bird With  a Heart of a Mountain by Barbara Mariconda

Top Ten Tuesday - Books With Travel

Hosted By The Broke and The Bookish

I LOVE to travel and growing up I was very blessed to get to travel A LOT. My Husband and I still "travel" but due to limit funds, we are usually just traveling from Southern California  to Northern California and back. In fact, my husband has yet to even leave California. So, The best solution for me is to read books involving travel, that way I can imagine myself on these journey's.

1.

What a perfect book to subside my Wanderlust and give me an inner-peace.

2.

Traveling around the world, with the help of some envelopes? Sure, Why not?! Gives it a fun twist.

 3.

 Studying abroad in France is always something I wanted to do, and Anna and the French Kiss gives it a realistic approach.

4.

 I said this in my review, everything about this book makes me think of The Lizzie McQuire movie.. which takes me back to how I felt then about Italy and just makes me love the thought more!

5.

An old school Italian family, visiting Italy and South America. This book give a more sensual and romanticized version of traveling abroad.

 6.

Good All American Road Trip.

 7.

An adventurous road trip.

 8.

Walking around London with your MTB. Perfection. 

Meant To Be

Summary:

"Meant to be or not meant to be . . . that is the question. 
It's one thing to fall head over heels into a puddle of hazelnut coffee, and quite another to fall for the—gasp—wrong guy. Straight-A junior Julia may be accident prone, but she's queen of following rules and being prepared. That's why she keeps a pencil sharpener in her purse and a pocket Shakespeare in her, well, pocket. And that's also why she's chosen Mark Bixford, her childhood crush, as her MTB ("meant to be").
But this spring break, Julia's rules are about to get defenestrated (SAT word: to be thrown from a window) when she's partnered with her personal nemesis, class-clown Jason, on a school trip to London. After one wild party, Julia starts receiving romantic texts . . . from an unknown number! Jason promises to help discover the identity of her mysterious new suitor if she agrees to break a few rules along the way. And thus begins a wild goose chase through London, leading Julia closer and closer to the biggest surprise of all: true love.
Because sometimes the things you least expect are the most meant to be."

Plot: PERFECT Rom-Com, Winter...Cuddle Up In Bed...Drinking Tea... and just feeling all warm and fuzzy inside read. For some reason the the setting of London and the timing of the release just make this book that much better. At first the ups and downs of this love story drove me a little crazy and then it hit me, that is pretty much exactly how a high school relationship begins.

Characters: I LOVE LOVE LOVE Julia and honestly the more I think about it this relationship reminds me a lot of my Husband and I. Julia like me, is a bit nerdy in her own way, but can have fun when she wants to and Jason like my husband, is slightly obnoxious in public and acts like he could care less, but deep down has a secret smart side.
(Like Jason, my Husband pestered me in class all the time, and always wanted to be my partner in projects, etc and it infuriated me!)

Final Thoughts: I highly recommend this book. I even liked it better than Anna and The French Kiss! The thing that really got me about this book, is I honestly thought it would just be easy and predictable, but there were a few things in this book I didn't see coming, but they only added to the emotions. My only complaint is I would have liked a better ending.